


Shelter You

by Maeve_of_Winter



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: Angst, Confessions, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/F, Sharing a Bed, Sleeping Together, Sleepovers, Teen Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-19
Updated: 2018-02-19
Packaged: 2019-03-14 20:05:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,637
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13597371
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Maeve_of_Winter/pseuds/Maeve_of_Winter
Summary: Cheryl shows up at the Pembrooke for a sleepover. Veronica reluctantly indulges her.





	Shelter You

**Author's Note:**

  * For [thesleepingsatellite](https://archiveofourown.org/users/thesleepingsatellite/gifts).



> Thanks to everyone reading! If you ever want to chat, here's my [Tumblr](http://maeve-of-winter.tumblr.com/). I love discussion and hearing people's thoughts, so feel free to submit ideas or just talk Riverdale.

Since it was Smithers’s night off, Veronica was left answering the call of the doorbell on her own when she heard it ring. She couldn’t help a prick of nervousness as she approached the door; it was nearing ten o’clock at night and she was alone in the house. However, it was only a slight relief to open the door and find Cheryl Blossom waiting impatiently on the front step, a petite vintage suitcase of cherry red in her manicured hand.

“Why, Cheryl,” Veronica said unenthusiastically, folding her arms over her chest. “How unanticipated of you to stop by. Especially since you didn’t call or text to let me know you were coming.”

“Oh, I like to keep people guessing,” Cheryl replied, shouldering past Veronica and striding in uninvited, her high heels clicking on the tile floor. She cast an unimpressed eye around the interior of the Pembrooke. “My, my, how . . . miniature.”

Heaving a weary sigh, Veronica closed the door and hurried to chase after the other girl, catching up to her as she entered the living room. “Can I help you in some way?”

Cheryl dumped her suitcase onto the floor and then flopped down onto the sofa. “I’m here for our sleepover.”

“ ‘Sleepover’?” Veronica echoed incredulously. “I have emphatically not ever invited you to my house, Cheryl.”

“No, but I invited you to mine, and you accepted,” Cheryl reminded her smugly. “It’s only good manners to reciprocate an invitation that your host previously extended to you. And I’ll impart the same advice to you that I dole out to the rest of the plebeians who surround me: true, you may not have money. But that doesn’t mean you can’t have class.”

“Phenomenal,” Veronica muttered under breath. So much for her planned quiet night of starting to read that biography on Coco Chanel. 

But at least she didn’t have to explain Cheryl’s presence to her mother—Hermione was out of town, ostensibly visiting Veronica’s father in prison. But given how she’d refused to let Veronica come along and insisted she remain at home, Veronica had her misgivings about the veracity of her mother’s story.

Walking around to join Cheryl on the sofa, Veronica contemplated her options. She could either evict Cheryl now and go back to her scheduled plans, or simply tolerate her for an evening. The latter option seemed like it would be best. Though she wasn’t afraid of Cheryl, given the other girl’s fickle nature, it would probably cause Veronica fewer headaches to endure her presence now than incur her wrath by sending her away. 

“Well, then,” Veronica said in defeat. “I guess we’re having a sleepover.”

“We most certainly are.” Cheryl looped an arm around Veronica’s shoulders. “You have no idea how much I’ve been looking forward to this.”

* * *

While Veronica made a point of offering Cheryl the spare bedroom, she declined with a dismissive wave of her hand.

“What fun is a sleepover if you can’t stay up late to gab with your girlfriends?” she replied with a toss of her long red hair.

“To be honest, I was kind of hoping for an early night,” Veronica informed her. As tactful as she normally tried to be, she didn’t see any particular reason to cater any further to her unexpected guest. “So, if you were hoping to pull an all-nighter—”

“ _ No. _ ” The response was instant and urgent, spoken with such conviction that Veronica sent her a quizzical glance, but all she saw was Cheryl hurrying to paste on her usual artificial smile.

“What I mean is that you’ve already been such a generous hostess,” Cheryl added hastily. “I don’t want to overstep. I’ll just stay here in your room with you.”

Veronica eyed her dubiously, wondering exactly what Cheryl was up to and what it indicated for her. Earlier she’d posted about Cheryl’s arrival and planned stay at her home to the gang’s group chat, just to make sure some other people knew what was going on. At the time she’d wondered if she was being silly and paranoid, but now she couldn’t help but feel vindicated for letting her four closest friends know what was happening.

“If you’re sure,” she replied with a neutral shrug. “I’m going to get ready for bed now.”

“Me, too.” Cheryl popped open her suitcase and extracted a silky black nightgown.

As good manners dictated, Veronica let Cheryl rinse off in the bathroom before she did so herself. When she returned to her room, Cheryl was already waiting in bed, under the covers and sitting up against the tufted headboard like a queen waiting to be served.

“Mind if I turn out the lights?” Veronica asked, shutting the door behind her and pausing by the light switch.

“Go ahead,” Cheryl allowed.

Without ceremony, Veronica flipped off the lights and walked over to her bed, climbing beneath the blankets. She settled in with her back to Cheryl, making herself comfortable and closing her eyes. But as she rested her head on the pillow, she knew that she was too tense for sleep. While the bed was large enough that she and Cheryl could comfortably lie next to each other without actually touching one another, just the knowledge of the other girl’s presence, the strangeness of having another person there, was enough to prevent her from sleeping.

As the minutes crept by and Veronica remained awake, Cheryl broke the quiet.

“Veronica?” Cheryl’s voice was unusually soft, but in the darkened room it still seemed loud.

Irritation spiked through her, but she did her best not to let it show. “Do you need something, Cheryl?” She didn’t bother to roll over to face her; it wasn’t as though they could see each other.

There was a short pause, and then: “I can’t sleep.”

Veronica stifled a groan but still didn’t allow herself to fail in her duties as a hostess. “If you’re after some warm milk, we have a fridge and microwave in the kitchen. Feel free to help yourself.”

“No, that’s not what I meant.” There was a rustle of bed sheets; Cheryl had repositioned herself to look at her. “I don’t sleep, not anymore. Not since I found out that Jason was dead.

“I have nightmares,” Cheryl admitted, her voice heavy with unshed tears. “That he comes back for me to make sure I die with him.”

Veronica pushed herself up on her elbows, raising her head and turning in her direction. “I didn’t know that,” she offered, feeling a stab of compassion for Cheryl and a spark of guilt for her previous impatience. Whatever rough edges the other girl might have had, her home life seemed to be thoroughly miserable, especially now that she had to cope without Jason there to help her. Veronica didn’t sympathize with Cheryl all the time, but she could recognize that Jason’s loss must have been terrible, and it only would have been compounded by Cheryl’s thoroughly unpleasant parents.

Cheryl sniffled. “It’s not exactly a typical topic of conversation for me. I don’t want my suffering to become someone else’s gossip piece.”

Spurred on by Cheryl’s evident grief, Veronica reached out blindly and managed to locate Cheryl’s back. Trying to comfort her, she began rubbing the spot between her shoulder blades. “But you’re telling me,” she observed gently.

“The only night I didn’t have any of those dreams was when you were at Thornhill sleeping right beside me,” Cheryl replied thickly. “That’s why I came here tonight. I didn’t really want a sleepover. I just wanted to sleep peacefully again. Like I did when you were with me.”

“Oh, Cheryl.” Veronica moved to hold her close, feeling a rush of sympathy for her. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t know any of that was happening.”

Cheryl reached out to return her embrace, coiling her arms tightly around Veronica’s back and burying her face into her neck. “I just wanted to be with you again. So you can keep my nightmares away.”

Starting to respond, Veronica opened her mouth but then shut it, and then opened it again and shut it again, struggling with herself. She was torn: on the one hand, she wanted to be better than her former Mean Girl Veronica Lodge self that she had been trying to put behind her, which meant lending Cheryl support.

On the other hand, Cheryl was a powder keg of volatile emotions, and Veronica knew she wouldn’t hesitate to turn on her as she’d done previously. She would probably be safer summoning a poltergeist into her home before inviting Cheryl.

Still, Veronica knew that the right thing to do was offer her help. And she would be lying if she said she didn’t feel at least some begrudging admiration and affection for Cheryl.

“If you ever need to come here, you can stop by anytime,” she told Cheryl, forcing back any doubts she had. “Consider the Pembrooke your safe haven.”

“Thank you,” Cheryl whispered, and Veronica thought she detected genuine happiness in her voice. “Thank you so much.”

“You’re welcome,” Veronica replied automatically, but she’d barely gotten the words out before a pair of lips pressed against her own in a soft kiss.

She gasped, floored. “Cheryl, what—”

“Shush.” Cheryl gently traced a finger over Veronica’s lips. “It can wait till the morning. Let’s go to sleep for now.”

With that, Cheryl made herself comfortable, resting her head on Veronica’s chest and wrapping her arms around her torso. It was only a few minutes before she dropped off to sleep, her breathing becoming slow and even.

Gently stroking Cheryl’s hair, Veronica closed her eyes and smiled. It was oddly comforting to have the weight of the other girl’s body pressing against hers. And suddenly, she was filled with certainty that she’d made the right decision by offering to let Cheryl stay at the Pembrooke.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to everyone reading! If you ever want to chat, here's my [Tumblr](http://maeve-of-winter.tumblr.com/). I love discussion and hearing people's thoughts, so feel free to submit ideas or just talk Riverdale.


End file.
